Introduction and overview: Early systematic psychosocial matched care > Research program and long-term considerations

Psychosocial matched care is a relatively new approach in the field of work injury management. This guide primarily focuses on the highest quality evidence available. However, the available grey literature also suggests that this system can be effective, although the implementation strategies may vary.

Importantly, a 2017 systematic review of medium and high-quality studies of workplace-based RTW interventions, work disability management interventions for workers with musculoskeletal and pain-related conditions and mental health conditions[14] found that optimal outcomes were found when three main aspects of workplace injuries were addressed simultaneously: (1) the appropriateness of health care interventions (2) appropriate workplace responses, and (3) effective case coordination to ensure that all categories were monitored and kept on track.

The case studies at the end of this report provide insight into the range of methodologies that have been employed.

In addition to the controlled studies described earlier, programs evaluated through internal organisation review and data also support the effectiveness of psychosocial matched care for injured workers at high risk of delayed recovery.

A key lesson from studies presented here is that close monitoring and coordination of the different parts of these multi-faceted interventions must be built into the system to ensure the agreed management protocol is adhered to. There will always be a tendency for drift from the protocol and this needs to be monitored and corrected as soon as possible to minimise the chances of things returning to older and less effective practices. A number of steps can assist with this and these are outlined later.